Syrian artillery shell falls in southern Turkey: statement

ANKARA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A Syrian artillery shell landed on the Turkish territory Saturday afternoon, some 1,200 meters from the Syrian border, an official statement from the Turkish side said.

The latest shell landed on a vacant land in Hatay province in southern Turkey at 2:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT), according to a written statement released by Hatay Governor's Office.

"Turkish troops retaliated against Syria by firing two mortar shells on Saturday afternoon," it added.

Earlier in the day, two Syrian artillery shells had landed inside Turkey, one at 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and the other 11:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT).

Turkey and Syria have been exchanging fire sporadically on the border for four days after a mortar shell from the Syrian side fell Wednesday in the Turkish border town of Akcakale in Sanliurfa province and killed five Turks.

The Turkish government said Wednesday in a statement that "Our armed forces in border region have given the required response in line with the rule of engagements. Targets in Syria, which were detected by radar, were shot by shelling."

"Turkey will never remain unresponsive against these sorts of provocations of Syrian regime within the framework of rules of engagement and international law," the statement said.

In an emergency session on Thursday, the Turkish parliament approved a motion for cross-border military operations inside Syria.

Ankara has been complaining about the spillover of Syrian artillery and gunfire into its territory, and has last week said it would act if mortar strikes were repeated from Syria.

Turkey, once an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but now a leading voice urging his ouster, shelters over 90,000 Syrian refugees and has reportedly provided Syrian rebel army leaders with sanctuary.

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